Deal in a snapshot

This Kent coastal town has an in­trigu­ing mix of ar­chi­tec­ture, from a Tu­dor cas­tle built by Henry VIII, to a 1950s pier. The high street is close to the mostly Ge­or­gian Con­ser­va­tion Area, and of­fers in­die shops, vin­tage em­po­ria and cool cafés which, along with the lively Satur­day Mar­ket, draw daytrip­pers and down­shifters from the cap­i­tal. Deal is linked by high­speed rail to Lon­don St Pan­cras.